Ovine Obsessions: Google Sheep View

 

I checked to see if Google Map View caught my Border Leicesters on pasture. Sadly, Sabine is not a Google Sheep View sheep. Photo: Kate Larson.

 

As a sheep-obsessed member of a largely sheep-obsessed craft community, I've been hearing a lot about Google Sheep View. Links are gleefully shared via Facebook, Ravelry groups, and guild email lists, such as the Western Reserve Spinners and Weavers in Ohio. What's everyone so excited about? Here's the story:

 

Earlier this year, Ding Ren and Mike Karabinos started the now-famous blog called Google Sheep View.  Covered by NPR, Slate, and a dozen other news outlets around the world, the project aims to document the many instances of sheep that appear in Google Street View (part of Google Maps). Our woolly friends can be seen resting on roadsides in Ireland, happily munching in California backyards, and being moved en masse by shepherds in New Zealand. You can see the many sheepy submissions by blog followers on the archive page of the website. And the outtakes page of false sheep-sightings is just as fun.

 

The creators say they were inspired to start the Google Sheep View project during the year of the sheep because ". . . we enjoy the 'sheep view' when riding trains in the Netherlands." They have dedicated the project to a breed of sheep from the Netherlands, the Zwartble. Doesn't that just warm your handspinner's heart? Hear an interview with Ding and Mike on ABC Rural (Australia).

 

Spot a sheep not listed yet? Submit your sighting here.